you gunna tell me what happened?
by Jane Willow
Summary: When Ian and Mickey get home after the fight at the Alibi, Lip learns what happened and tried to clean them up. You can knock a Gallagher off his feet, but you can't keep him down. spoilers for 4x11. one shot.


**"you gunna tell me what happened?"**

Amanda lifted her head off Lip's chest. "Someone's here."

Lip listened for a minute. "It's Ian," he said finally, laying his head back down on the pillow. "And Mickey, too, probably."

"Ian?"

"My brother. I told you about him."

"Oh, the one who was missing?" she asked, sitting up properly.

"Yeah. He's not missing anymore."

"Obviously."

Lip sat up, too. "Wanna meet him?"

Amanda grinned. "Yeah."

Lip stood up, pulling a shirt over his head. Muffled voices came from downstairs. Amanda pulled her pants on as Lip led the way out the door and down the stairs.

Ian and Mickey were still pulling off their coats and boots – slowly – and muttering under their breath.

"Jesus Christ," Lip breathed when he finally saw them properly. "What the fuck, Ian?" He walked over to his brother and took his face gently between his hands, turning it from side to side. "You get in a fight?"

"Nah, saw a ballet."

Lip took a step back and looked over at Mickey. "What the fuck happened? I thought you were at a fucking christening."

"It didn't happen at the christening," Ian shrugged.

"Kinda did," Mickey said.

"Well, it didn't happen in the _church_."

Lip sighed and ran his hands through his hair. "Just… just come into the kitchen. It'll get you some ice. Have you seen yourself? You look fucking horrible."

Ian motioned to Amanda as he followed Lip into the house.

"Oh, uh. This is Amanda. Amanda, Ian. And Mickey."

Amanda gave a little wave.

"So," Lip said, pulling out a chair and sitting Ian down, "you gunna tell me what happened?"

Ian looked over at Mickey, who stood staring at his feet. When Mickey finally looked up, he sighed, trying his best to sound annoyed. "You gunna make me do it again?"

"Not for me to say," Ian shrugged.

"Not exactly a secret."

"Then what's the problem?"

Lip had pieced it together before Mickey said anything, but tried not to give it away.

Mickey sighed again, rubbing his hand over his face. "I – I'm. I'm gay. Queer. A queen. Homo. A fairy. Fruit. A fucking pansy. "

"I got it," Lip muttered.

"Didn't go over so well at the party," Ian put in.

"I got that, too."

Mickey started to walk out of the kitchen. "I'm taking a shower."

Lip stared after him. "You sure you don't want me to look at –"

"No," Mickey snapped as he left.

Lip turned back to Ian. "Just trying to be nice," he shrugged.

Ian smiled. "I know. He knows, too."

Lip clasped his shoulder and smiled back. There were so many things he wanted to say to his brother, but nothing came to mind. Ian seemed to understand.

"Uh, Amanda," Lip said, remembering she was still standing awkwardly in the doorway, "grab me some ice from the freezer, would yah?"

She moved without saying anything as Lip wet a rag from the sink and wiped Ian's face down. "So, it was Terry?"

"Yeah. Bunch of other guys, too."

"Jesus, Ian."

"Yeah."

"And where's Terry now?"

"Whose Terry?" Amanda asked, handing Lip a plastic baggie full of ice.

"Mickey's dad. Asswipe of a person," Ian said, darkly.

"And that's being kind," Lip added. He gave Ian the ice to press to his nose. "So what happened? Where's Terry now?"

Ian said "jail" but both boys know he meant "not with Mandy".

"Good," Lip nodded. "Good."

"Where does it hurt?" Amanda asked. "Did anyone hit your head?"

"Yeah," Ian laughed. "Like, a couple dozen times."

"He should go to a hospital," she said, turning to Lip with her hands on her hips. "He winces every time he inhales. His ribs are broken. Maybe his nose, too. And he hit his head. He should have internal bleeding, he could –"

"I'm right here," Ian said.

Her hands still on her hips, Amanda turned back to Ian. She inhaled deeply. "Fine. You should go to a hospital. You wince every time you inhale. Your ribs –"

"All right, all right, enough," Lip muttered. "He's fine tonight. Besides, it's like three in the morning."

"The emergency room is open."

"What are we gunna do, take the L there?"

Amanda huffed and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Where'd you pick this one up?" Ian asked.

"I'm right here," Amanda spat.

Ian grinned. "I like her."

"We go to school together," Lip explained. He pulled a glass from the cupboard and filled it at the tap, handing it to Ian. "She was dating my roommate. She looked after a bit Liam. Now she's dating me."

Ian laughed. "That kid was always a chick magnet." He was still laughing as he grabbed his side and doubled over.

"Jesus, Ian," Lip said. "Maybe you should go to the hospital."

"Trust me. I'm fine."

Just then, Mickey waked back into the kitchen, hair damp and wearing Ian's pajamas. The blood was gone, but his lip was split in two places, there was a gash above his eyebrow, and the skin around both his eyes was turning a dark purple.

"Why are there a bunch of fucking kids in Ian's room?" he asked, sitting down at the table, across from where Ian sat, facing Lip.

"Oh. Right. Those are Carl's friends."

"Carl has friends?" Ian asked.

Lip laughed. "Apparently. Well, he's got this little girlfriend."

"I heard."

"She lives in a van. So do her seven siblings. So, I said they could stay here tonight."

"Eight kids in a van?" Ian asked.

"What happened to this not being a shelter?" Mickey shot.

"Let _you_ stay," Lip snapped back. He handed Mickey a beer as he said it. Mickey nodded his thanks.

"You need ice?" Amanda asked Mickey tentatively.

Mickey just shook her head.

Lip busied himself in the kitchen with something. "So, uh, what'd Mandy do? When all this happened?"

Ian turned to Mickey. "Where _was_ Mandy?"

'Whose Mandy?" Amanda asked Lip.

"Mickey's sister."

Mickey gave a short, dark laugh as he took another swig of beer. "That it?"

Lip ignored him.

"She wasn't there," Ian finally said. "I'm sure she'll find out soon." He leaned over the table and spoke quietly to Mickey. "You should call her or something. You should tell her. She shouldn't just hear it."

Mickey shrugged. "She fucking knows."

"Really?"

"Has for fucking ages."

"So did I," Lip piped up from the kitchen, "for the record."

"Shut the fuck up."

Ian shook his head, smiling. "She never said anything to me. She was looking out for you."

"Nah, I think you just took off before she got a chance."

"Hey Mand- er – Amanda. Help with this," Lip said, making sure they both looked busy.

"Took off before people could tell you a lot of things," Mickey went on, muttring into his beer. That's why he'd done it – he would never admit it to anyone else, though Ian would already know. He'd say he'd come out because he wanted to, because that's how he wanted things to be. Really he just couldn't stomach the thought of Ian leaving again, of moving his picture around the house so no one would find it, of staring at the number he had programmed on his phone knowing he wouldn't get an answer, of imagining him with sweaty old men along in the dark. He _couldn't_.

"I'm back now," Ian said. "I'm back."

Mickey just took at him and nodded. "I know."

Just then Lip walked over and handed Mickey a bag of ice. "You lip looks like shit even from over there."

"I know," he said, taking the ice. "Chipped a damn tooth, too."

"I'll get you a cap if you want."

"A what?"

"A cap, like, to go over the chip."

"Nah, man."

"Why not? You wanna go around looking like a homeless meth head?"

"Dentist stuff is expensive, Lip," Ian said, turning around. "Remember Carl's fucking braces? Unless Amanda here can do it."

Amanda rolled her eyes. "I can tell you that if the characteristic equation of a linear homogeneous higher-order derivative has imaginary roots than the general and/or particular solutions will have oscillatory components. But I don't do teeth."

"Okay, I'll definitely come to you next time that comes up."

They laughed and Lip's heart swelled with relief – that his brother was laughing and not beaten to a pulp by the same asshole he knew beat Mandy; that Mickey was there and out and really _with_ Ian – as much as he didn't like Mickey, Ian deserved this much at least; that his family was there in the house, relatively healthy and happy and safe.

He felt a pang as he suddenly thought of Fiona, alone in some prison her didn't really belong in. She'd know what to say. She'd call Veronica in the morning to look Ian and Mickey over, and she'd know what to say to them, where to let them sleep and what to do when the shitstorm started up in the morning. She'd know how to get Debbie to stop talking to that guy who looked older than him and what to do with the eight kids from the van. He was trying, but he wasn't Fiona.

"Lip? Lip, I asked you a question."

"Huh? Sorry. What?"

Amanda motioned toward Ian and Mickey. "Are you gunna tell them how you can pay for the tooth?"

"You're not going to," Mickey spat. "It's not a big deal, get over it."

"I am. I'm going to," Lip said, staring at Mickey, hoping he knew this really had nothing to do with his teeth and everything to do with Lip wanting to tell Mickey he was proud of him but not knowing how. "And I can. Because Amanda's dad just paid me to stop dating her."

"What?" Ian laughed.

"Oh yeah," Amanda said, "he does that. Pays off boyfriends he doesn't like. I figured out how to work this system ages ago."

"So what'd you get?" Ian said, still smiling. "Like, $500? We might be able to pay the rent this month."

"We'll be able to. And to get Mickey's tooth done. And hell, we'll get Debs braces while we're at it."

Ian sat up a little straighter. "Lip, how much?"

"Ten grand."

"Excuse me?" Mickey said.

"Ten thousand dollars."

"How rich are your fucking parents?" Ian asked.

Amanda shrugged. "Pretty rich."

Ian laughed out loud. "I knew I liked her!"

"Yeah, me too," Lip laughed. He kissed her cheek and opened the drier. He pulled out a two sheets and a pair of socks. "If you give me your bloody clothes, I'll wash it in the morning. Or I'll make Debs. I'd tell Carl to do it, since all these damn kids are his fault, but – remember that incident with the toaster?"

Ian smiled. "Yeah. We had to use that chair under the door to make the old drier work."

"Yeah, so. Debs it is. Anyways, you can have these sheets. I'll look for some blankets. You'll have to camp out in the living room for tonight."

"Whatever. Not exactly gunna sleep much anyways," Mickey said.

"Please don't let that be a sex joke," Lip muttered under his breath. "Anyways," he said louder, "sleep or don't. But I have class in the morning. I'll get Debbie and Carl up and take Liam with me but… I have no idea what to do with these kids."

"They're fine," Ian shrugged. "It's fine. Everything is fine."

"For now," Lip nodded, tossing the sheets onto the sofa. He walked over to the kitchen Ian stood up and hugged his brother, hard. Lip pushed Ian's head back playfully and then put a hand on Mickey's shoulder. Mickey didn't do anything, but at least he didn't shrug him off.

Heading back up stairs, Lip took Amanda's hand. For now, everything was fine.


End file.
